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Tennessee

American  
[ten-uh-see] / ˌtɛn əˈsi /

noun

  1. a state in the southeastern United States. 42,246 sq. mi. (109,415 sq. km). Nashville. TN (for use with zip code), Tenn.

  2. a river flowing from eastern Tennessee through northern Alabama, western Tennessee, and southwestern Kentucky into the Ohio near Paducah. 652 miles (1,050 km) long.


Tennessee British  
/ ˌtɛnɪˈsiː /

noun

  1. Abbreviation: Tenn.   TN.  a state of the E central US: consists of a plain in the west, rising to the Appalachians and the Cumberland Plateau in the east. Capital: Nashville. Pop: 5 841 748 (2003 est). Area: 109 412 sq km (42 244 sq miles)

  2. a river in the E central US, flowing southwest from E Tennessee into N Alabama, then west and north to the Ohio River at Paducah: the longest tributary of the Ohio; includes a series of dams and reservoirs under the Tennessee Valley Authority. Length: 1049 km (652 miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Tennessee Cultural  
  1. State in the south-central United States bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north; North Carolina to the east; Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south; and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. Its capital is Nashville, and its largest city is Memphis.


Discover More

One of the Confederate states during the Civil War.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

News is reacting to what students and families are saying they want from college, said Robert Kelchen, a professor who studies higher education at the University of Tennessee.

From MarketWatch Sep. 22, 2026

Tennessee is seen as the likely potential destination for Paramount.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 18, 2026

Ellison’s short list includes Tennessee, Texas and Georgia.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 14, 2026

But state and county tax revenue would plummet further should Paramount dispatch hundreds of its workers to Tennessee or some other state, Klowden said.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 14, 2026

After her release from jail, Victoria Woodhull continued to spend time with her sister Tennessee Claflin and Cornelius Vanderbilt.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling

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